Smoked Salmon – Revisited

One of my all time favorite breakfast meals is a good everything bagel (lightly toasted), shmeared with cream cheese, sprinkled with salty capers and red onion and finally draped with bright pink smoky salmon. YES! How good is that?! It’s awesome. Lox and bagels are the perfect and most delicious breakfast ever. You can’t debate it. You just can’t.

And although, yes I do consider myself a vegetarian, in all reality I’m a pescatarian. Let’s be honest. And smoked salmon is my top favorite fish to eat. Especially at breakfast. And especially on a bagel with capers. Lots of capers. Did I tell you that already? Because it’s awesome. Best breakfast on the planet. No question about it.

Lately, I’ve been really, really, REALLY craving smoked salmon. Don’t ask me why. I just have been. But there are no bagels to be had here in Virginia – ok no real, actual worth while bagels in Virginia (those are only found in NJ or NY). So, the whole bagel and lox thing is out unfortunately for me. But… my salmon craving hasn’t gone away. I need it!

Instead of a giant bagel and lox, I thought how genius would it be, to make my infamous breakfast into a dinner time quesadilla?!?! It’s pretty genius, in my humble opinion. Just genius. All the same flavors – creamy cheese, red onion, smoked salmon and for a little added fun, diced artichokes and crumbled goat cheese. All in between two crispy tortillas and dipped in a delicious lemon caper sauce. YUM! Deliciousness in your mouth! This is the best re-take on a recipe I’ve had in a long time.

I love the warm creamy cheese, salty bites of capers in the dressing…just everything. It was so good! Served aside a small side salad, it was the perfect quick and easy dinner. And definitely the perfect bagel and lox re-do!

Mix together the ingredients from mayo to lemon juice. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. You may want to thin out this sauce with a few drops of water. Depends on your desired thickness.

For the quesadillas, spread out all of the cream cheese on one side of a tortilla.

Sprinkle on the smoked salmon, artichokes, crumbled goat cheese and 1/4 tsp ground pepper evenly on top of the cream cheese.

Dot with the 2 tbsp of crumbled goat cheese and top with the remaining tortilla.

In a medium sized skillet (should be the size of your tortillas) cook quesadilla on high for about 2 minutes per side. Watch out, they will cook quickly! You want the tortilla to get slightly browned and crisp and the insides to get warm and cheese to melt!